Auburn Coach Clint Myers Praises His Team's Mental Toughness

Coach Clint Myers talks about why he likes his 2016 softball team following an exciting victory at the College World Series.

All-American Kasey Cooper (above) scored the winning run for the Tigers.

Oklahoma City--After watching his team score three seventh inning runs to stay in the winners bracket at the College Softball World Series on Saturday night, Auburn coach Clint Myers had high praise for his players who found a dramatic way to defeat Georgia 4-3.

Auburn’s third-year head coach said this team has developed a winning chemistry.

“I think it's something that goes and starts when you first come together and you have an expectation and you believe in each other,” he said. “You heard what they were saying, I was doing it for her, I was doing it for us, and I knew what I had to do, and it was just--we have kind of a term, pass the baton, and again, if one doesn’t get it done, the next one will.

“This team has had great fight all year long,” the Hall of Fame coach said. “I mean, we have had a couple bumps in the road, and we have been behind before, but they never quit. As long as they have got a breath, they never quit.

Photography: Johnny Lawrence

Clint Myers and the Tigers improved their record to 56-10, matching last year's AU record total for victories.

“That is just a competitive nature,”?he said. “That's playing with a great heart. That's playing with total confidence, and again, there's so many little tangible things that you could say, but basically these young ladies are winners, and again, they are doing what winners do. They compete.

“You know, they're pulling for each other. They've got each other's backs. And again, it's just what we talk about when we first come together.

These are the things that we've got to do. These are the things that we practice. And they take total trust into their preparation. I mean, that's one of two ways to get confidence.

“Yeah, you saw that seventh inning. You saw the confidence in their face, in their eyes, and could have felt it in the dugout. It was phenomenal. They knew. They weren't trying, they knew that they were going to score and win that ball game.”

Photo by Johnny Lawrence

Tiffany Howard celebrates her team's comeback victory over Georgia.

The Tigers now need to win three more times to earn the first softball national championship in school history. "I'm pumped, I'm so excited," said senior Tiffany Howard. "Just to think if we just win three more games -- it's mind-blowing so I'm just excited."

Carosone said the Tigers need to stay focused on the task at hand. "It's just one game at a time," the senior second baseman said. "Nothing changes. We're playing Auburn softball no matter if it's the winner or the losers bracket, the championship, we're playing Auburn softball, and that's what we came to do."

Junior third baseman Kasey Cooper, the SEC Player of the Year, said, "Our goal was just to dream with a deadline, and so our deadline is three more days, and we almost made it, so our goal is still attainable, and we aren't stopping until we attain our goal."